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To celebrate the staging of the 29th European Athletics Indoor Championships at Birmingham’s NIA, an interactive sports park, is being staged in Centenary Square and local schools and athletics clubs have been racing to register for the free event.
The Athletics SPARk will be open from 9am until 6pm on Thursday 1st, Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd March and has been created so that young people from across Birmingham can be part of the Championships. The aim is to educate young people from the local community and engage them in fun activities relating to athletics.
Lots of local schools have already signed up to be part of the event but there are still places available for anyone interested in taking part. However, teachers are being urged to sign up sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.
Local athletics clubs are also being invited to attend and families from across the city can drop in to the free event on any of the three days.
The sports park has been backed by Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis who said: “I think this sports park is an excellent idea and a great way of introducing young people to the sport of athletics. I hope that thousands of local youngsters will make the most of the sports park happening on their doorstep and that they develop news skills and have a lot of fun learning about the sport I love.”
The Athletics SPARk will include a performance zone with activities such as long jump, a sprint challenge, high jump and javelin throw, however it isn’t just about getting physical as youngsters will also be given a chance to consider technology, nutrition and sports science and look at athletics beyond elite performance, taking into account the role that technicians, scientists, physios, dieticians, coaches and volunteers all play.
In fact, as well as the performance zone, the Athletics SPARk includes a hydration and nutrition zone looking at an athletes fluid loss and replacement, what an athlete eats and which foods are healthy and a technology zone where young people can compare the hi-tech equipment used by athletes today by that used by athletes in decades gone by.
The Athletics SPARk, which will be run by experienced coaches and technical specialists, has been sponsored by SPAR UK as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations throughout 2007 and their Marketing Controller Simon Fisher said: “We would urge any schools or clubs in the Birmingham area who are keen to be a part of this free athletics extravaganza to sign up as soon as possible so that they don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to get active and experience a science lesson with a difference.”
The SPAR UK funding for the Athletics SPARk has been matched by SportsMatch, a government funded scheme set up to help fund grass roots and community sports in England which matches new sponsorship money on a pound for pound basis.
For information or to register your interest please e-mail EIAC2007@birmingham.gov.uk.
For tickets for the European Athletics Indoor Championships call 0870 739 2007 or log onto www.birminghamathletics2007.com.
· SPAR International is the principle sponsor of the European Athletics Indoor Championships and major European Athletic Association events across the continent.
· The European Athletics Indoor Championships will be staged at Birmingham’s NIA from 2-4 March 2007 and will be the most significant athletics to be staged in the UK before the 2012 Olympics. More than 600 athletes from 50 countries will take part.
· The European Athletics Indoor Championships will be part funded by UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Events Programme, which aims to secure events of strategic importance that deliver a range of lasting benefits. These include economic, social and cultural benefits as well as improving sporting performance by home athletes, encouraging participation and leaving a legacy of facilities and development initiatives. Over 100 sporting events have been staged in the UK through the Programme since 1997. More at www.uksport.gov.uk.
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